The Face of Management

Without hard work, several of the species below would have disappeared in Michigan. Wildlife management is crucial to maintain the thriving wildlife we enjoy today. The habitat improvements, disease prevention and species restoration efforts done by dedicated professionals and volunteers alike are funded primarily by hunting and fishing license revenue – not from taxes.

White-tailed deer

Found in every Michigan county

Most live in female-led family groups

Like cows, deer have four stomachs

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is fatal

Elk

Michigan’s elk disappeared by the late 1800s

Today’s elk herd dates back to 1918

Goal population: 500-900

Current population: 1,300+

Osprey

Females are slightly larger than males

These birds dine almost exclusively on live fish

Ospreys generally pair for life

There are over 250 nests statewide

Wild Turkey

Wild turkeys roost in trees at night

Wild turkeys eat insects, nuts, and berries

A group of turkeys is called a “rafter”

Baby turkeys are called “poults”

Kirtland’s Warbler

They Winter in Bahamas for 8 months

Nearly extinct just 50 years ago

Population: 5,000 in 2016

Listed as a endangered species

Lake Sturgeon

Can attain ages of up to 100 years old

Can grow up to 7 feet in length

Can weigh up to 200 pounds

Listed as a threatened species

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WILD TURKEY

The Need for Management:

By the early 1900s, the wild turkey population in North America had been reduced to an estimated 30,000 birds and there were almost none in Michigan. Rampant poaching and the degradation of the wild turkey’s habitat were primarily responsible for their decline.

Management Results:

Careful management of the wild turkey’s habitat and strategic relocation efforts have led to wild turkey population increases in Michigan from 2,000 in 1960 to over 200,000 in 2015. Currently, the population of wild turkeys has increased to the point where hunting is allowed – which through the sale of hunting licenses directly provides much-needed revenue to fund management efforts now and into the future.

Management Activities:

The ambitious goal to repopulate Michigan with wild turkeys required the coordination of dedicated wildlife professionals, conservationists and volunteers along with a lot of hard work that included:

Capturing wild turkeys from Iowa and Missouri and releasing them in suitable habitats throughout Michigan.

Implementing private-land management initiatives that encouraged Michigan landowners to keep turkeys on their property by providing year-round food and cover.

The primary source of funding for wild turkey habitat management in Michigan comes from hunting and fishing license revenue in addition to external grant funding – not from taxes.

KIRTLAND’S WARBLER

The Need for Management:

Always a rare bird, the Kirtland’s warbler became even rarer when its habitat in Michigan was disrupted substantially in the early 1900s by the unintended consequences of forestry operations. Kirtland’s warbler came perilously close to extinction in the 1970s, when the population consisted of fewer than 500. As if that wasn’t enough, their preferred habitat, jack pine forests, can only be found in a handful of places in Michigan, Wisconsin and the Canadian province of Ontario and, currently, nowhere else on Earth.

Management Results:

Wildlife management practices that include a much larger, more global perspective than previously employed have increased the Kirtland’s warbler population to 5,000 in 2016. To this day, people come to Michigan from all over the world to catch a glimpse of this extraordinarily rare bird.

Since jack pine forests cover much of northern Michigan, it is important to note that these wildlife management efforts help not only the Kirtland’s warbler, but also other species such as rabbits, snowshoe hare, white-tailed deer, woodcock, ruffed grouse and other game and non-game species.

Management Activities:

The continued success of Kirtland’s warbler requires several tactics, including:

Identifying and protecting habitats within the Bahamas that are used by wintering songbirds, including the Kirtland’s warbler.

Monitoring the breeding population of the Kirtland’s warbler to evaluate responses to management practices and environmental changes.

Developing and implementing emergency measures to prevent extinction.

The primary source of funding for Kirtland’s warbler habitat management in Michigan comes from hunting and fishing license revenue in addition to external grant funding – not from taxes.

OSPREY

The Need for Management:

Osprey populations declined drastically from the 1950s to the 1970s due in part to the toxic effects of insecticides such as DDT on their reproductive cycle, as well as to the loss of breeding grounds and poaching.

Management Results:

Few wildlife restoration programs have been more successful than Michigan’s effort to strengthen the state’s osprey population. The ban of DDT in combination with other conservation programs has helped the osprey population increase. Conservationists had set a goal of 30 nesting pairs statewide by the year 2020. That goal was surpassed in 2010.

Management Activities:

The scientifically based management activities responsible for the osprey’s dramatic recovery include:

Building and maintaining artificial nest platforms throughout the state.

Relocating several osprey to the Detroit area’s Kensington Metropark in 1998.

Monitoring the health and number of osprey.

Tracking osprey as they migrate south to better understand their habits and help facilitate improvements to the wintertime habitat. The tagged osprey can be tracked here. (URL: http://michiganosprey.org/)

The primary source of funding for osprey habitat management in Michigan comes from hunting and fishing license revenue in addition to external grant funding – not from taxes.

LAKE STURGEON

The Need for Management:

Lake Sturgeon are a threatened species, which means they are vulnerable to becoming endangered in the near future. Habitat degradation and over-fishing that occurred in the distant past are the primary reasons for the Lake Sturgeon decline. The goal is to conserve sturgeon populations that are currently self-sustaining and to rehabilitate smaller populations that are not.

Management Results:

Today, Lake Sturgeon numbers are on the rise. In 2015, sturgeon eggs were found on four different man-made spawning reefs in the St. Clair and Detroit rivers. Not only that, the eggs were incubating and producing healthy young Lake Sturgeon.

Management Activities:

To ensure the continued success of Lake Sturgeon, their habitats are managed in a variety of ways:

Continued construction of new habitat structures that are suitable for spawning

Construction of the Belle Isle Reef, which is a series of three reefs adjacent to the island. When the project is complete, it will add four acres of spawning habitat in the upper Detroit River

Post-construction monitoring of all man-made spawning reefs and their impact on Lake Sturgeon numbers.

The primary source of funding for Lake Sturgeon habitat management in Michigan comes from hunting and fishing license revenue in addition to external grant funding – not from taxes.

ELK

The Need for Management:

Elk actually disappeared from Michigan around 1875. Conservationists reintroduced elk to Michigan in 1918 by relocating seven elk from western states to Cheboygan County. Over the last hundred years the population has waned when poaching and habitat quality were not managed.

Management Results:

In 2016, the elk population in Michigan was estimated to be more than 1,300, exceeding the goal population of 500–900.

Management Activities:

Elk habitat is managed in a variety of ways to ensure that it is suitable for elk and provides adequate food resources. Management activities include:

Clearing out older trees to encourage younger tree growth, which provides important winter food for the herd.

The potential spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is one of the most important reasons for deer population management. Left unchecked, CWD could have a great negative effect on Michigan’s deer herd.

Management Results:

The deer population was estimated at 1.75 million in 2016 – up from an estimated 1.5 million deer in 2015. Conservationists are now working toward reducing the fall herd to 1.3 million deer to balance the population with habitat resources.

Management Activities:

To achieve balance between the needs of the deer and the needs of the people of Michigan, management of the deer herd takes many forms:

Regulated hunting helps prevent overpopulation since there are few remaining natural predators of deer in Michigan.

To keep deer from lingering in populated areas and spreading disease, rules and regulations have been put in place to prevent feeding and baiting deer.

Testing deer for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is an ongoing effort. So far Michigan has tested 13,000 deer and found nine confirmed cases.

Regulated hunting is not only an effective means to control the deer population, but also effectively contributes to analysis and prevention of the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) when hunters bring in their deer to be tested.

The primary source of funding for deer habitat management in Michigan comes from hunting and fishing license revenue in addition to external grant funding – not from taxes.